K.H. Glaßmeier - Böcker

Comets consist of the most primitive material in the solar system and to understand the earliest epoch of solar system formation, we must investigate the nature of this material. Much of what we know of comets presently comes from remote sensing using Earth-based telescopes. The Rosetta mission is poised to make a dramatic advance in our understanding of comets.

The articles in this volume cover, for the first time, all aspects of planetary magnetism, from the observations made by space missions to their interpretation in terms of the properties of all the planets in the solar system. Studies of dynamo-generated magnetic fields in Mercury, the Earth, the giant planets, as well as in Ganymede, one of Jupiter’s moons, are presented. Crustal magnetic field in Mars, the Mon and the Earth are described as well as magnetic fields induced in the solar system bodies. There are several articles dealing with dynamo theory and modelling and applications to the different planets.

The articles in this volume cover, for the first time, all aspects of planetary magnetism, from the observations made by space missions to their interpretation in terms of the properties of all the planets in the solar system. Studies of dynamo-generated magnetic fields in Mercury, the Earth, the giant planets, as well as in Ganymede, one of Jupiter’s moons, are presented. Crustal magnetic field in Mars, the Mon and the Earth are described as well as magnetic fields induced in the solar system bodies. There are several articles dealing with dynamo theory and modelling and applications to the different planets.

Comets consist of the most primitive material in the solar system and to understand the earliest epoch of solar system formation, we must investigate the nature of this material. The Rosetta mission is poised to make a dramatic advance in our understanding of comets.

Earth’s magnetic field is currently changing dramatically. Is the observed decrease of the dipole moment indicating a future polarity transition? What would be the effects of such a drastic change on system Earth? Can any positive or negative effects on our biosphere or even humans be expected?This book gives a first overview about the geomagnetic field in general and serves as an introduction into geomagnetism. As the topic of the book covers a wide range of scientific disciplines, the first chapter summarises basic principles of geomagnetism and related fields including a historic overview, instruments and measurements, paleomagnetic fields, basics of dynamo theory, etc. The contributed chapters review major results of international activities aiming at understanding the causes and effects of geomagnetic field variations in view of the questions above.